Taylor Swift's Ups And Downs With Liam Payne

Over the years, Taylor Swift has been associated with multiple members of the now-defunct boy band One Direction. Most notably Swift dated Harry Styles and collaborated with Zayn Malik on the song "I Don't Wanna Live Forever." She also associated with the late Liam Payne, who tragically passed away in October 2024. Following the news of his death, an insider told the Daily Mail that Swift had plans to honor him during the final leg of her Eras Tour. "She is really sad about this because she came up with those boys and she had a lot of love for Liam," the source told the outlet, adding, "He was always good to her."

It's true that Payne and Swift were friendly with one another and moved in the same circles – Swift's longtime friend Ed Sheeran co-wrote Payne's debut solo single "Strip That Down" in 2017. And Payne revealed on "Z100 New York" that same year that one of his "favorite party stories" involved Swift and Sheeran after a One Direction. The superstars ended up in the same elevator with Styles, Payne, and Payne's parents. "And the lift was going up and [Ed Sheeran] just kept going turning around to me going, 'Bass,'" he recalled. "And that's all he was saying. 'Bass.'"

While they shared good moments together, Swift and Payne's relationship wasn't perfect and they definitely had some rough moments, such as a tense comment Payne made about Swift after the 2013 VMAs. Here's a closer look at their ups and downs over the years.

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles' short-lived romance inspired a slew of hit songs for Swift, most notably "I Knew You Were Trouble." In August 2013, she won Best Female Video at the MTV VMAs for that song and seemingly called out Styles in her acceptance speech. "I also want to thank the person who inspired this song because he knows exactly who he is, because now I've got one of these," Swift said, as the camera panned to Styles, who was also in attendance. Earlier that evening, Swift also appeared to mouth 'Shut the f*** up" when One Direction appeared on stage to present an award. 

Post VMAS, Liam Payne, who was sitting with Styles at the time, spoke to Us Weekly about Swift's mention of his then-bandmate in her acceptance speech. "I just thought it was a bit not needed. I mean, you just won an award, it's like, concentrate on yourself," he told the outlet. When a reporter asked if he thought the "22" crooner's behavior was "lame," Payne answered "Yeah."

Liam Payne may have put Taylor Swift down for her VMA acceptance speech in 2013, but Swift seemingly didn't take it to heart. In 2017, Payne and Swift were both at Captial FM's Jingle Bell Ball in London. While they didn't interact publicly as Swift was performing while Payne talked to reporters on the red carpet, Payne shared a sweet anecdote about Swift that assured fans that they were on good terms. "She actually sent me a lovely little hamper of her new 'Reputation' gear the last show we did and a little note," Payne told On Demand Entertainment. "She's got very good handwriting, if she did write it." He admitted that he didn't know if the lovely penmanship was actually hers as someone with Swift's money could easily afford to pay someone to pen personal notes in beautiful calligraphy.  

On X (formerly known as Twitter) fans familiar with Swift's relationship with Payne's bandmate Harry Styles, were not pleased to hear that Payne and Swift were on a gift-giving basis. "What the ...." commented one fan. Another user expressed that they felt that Payne was betraying Styles. "Liam, please PLEASE don't do it like Zayn... PLEASE you know what Harry went through. Don't do this to him," the user pleaded, referring to how Zayn Malik had worked with Swift that year on "I Don't Want to Live Forever."

In April 2023, Liam Payne proved he was a fan of Taylor Swift while playing a music game with Tommy Fury for Soccer Aid for UNICEF. In a TikTok of the interaction, Payne starts humming "We Are Never Getting Back Together" for Fury to guess, which he recognizes and names immediately. "I shouldn't know these songs," Fury teases as Payne continues to sing the song and dance along. "I had no clue Liam was a Swiftie omg," commented one fan.

While Swift's breakup with Harry Styles in 2013 seemingly put distance between her and One Direction, the exes appear to have buried the hatchet in due time. Earlier in 2023, Swift and Styles were seen talking to each other at the Grammy Awards, with Swift even dancing along during Styles' performance. We're glad to see that Swift and Styles were able to reconnect and that Payne and Swift were also able to be chummy leading up to his death.